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| In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful |\
| Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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The following question was kindly answered by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi.
Regards
Abbas Jaffer
Moderator - ABDG-A.
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Question:
Can we used calendars to determine dates? Most newspapers print the timings
when the moon rises and sets each day. Since these times can be predicted
accurately, can we calculate and find out the dates of the Hijri calendar
accordingly?
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Answer:
The question can be rephrased as follows: Can we use scientific data to
determine the first of each lunar month?
This is an issue hotly debated among the Muslim scholars all over the world.
I myself have been following the debate and also observing the scientific
method for the last ten years. There are some aspects of the Islamic
calendar which can be surely based on the scientific data; however, there
still are issues which science has not been able to solve for us as yet.
At this stage, science is able to provide for us all the details about the
movement and position of the moon around the earth: it can precisely predict
when the birth of the new moon will occur, at what angle and at what
location in relation to our earth.
We are also told by the experts that when and where the moon will be
visible; and where it cannot not be sighted. For example, we are told that
the first sighting of the crescent is possible only sixteen hours after the
birth of the new moon. Experts can also give us a graph showing the location
where the sighting will be possible. For the last `idd, we were told that
the sighting will only be possible for those who are west of the Atlantic
Ocean. This was proved correct by the sighting of the moon in North America
(I saw it myself in Dallas, TX) on Monday, the 19th of February, 1996.
I personally have confidence in such predictions based on the scientific
data. BUT the problem lies in the following: (a) the 16 hour criterion by
the experts is based on the observation done by the scientists in North
America and Europe during the last 90 years. (b) reliable witnesses in the
Middle East have claimed the sighting of the moon when the new moon was just
9 hours old.
When I look at this situation, I am faced with two possibilities:
EITHER the sixteen hours criterion is valid only in the western hemisphere
and that it might be possible to sight the moon of an age lesser than
sixteen hours in desert areas where the atmosphere is much more clear. OR
the reliable people in the Middle East have seen something but not the moon!
In conclusion, although I trust and have faith in the scientic data
regarding the sighting of the crescent, we still need further confirmation
from the scientific world about the universality of the sixteen hours
criterion for moon sighting. When this criterion becomes universal, then it
will be definitely possible for us to predict the beginning of the Islamic
months well in advance. Insha Allah, we will reach to that stage of
certainty sooner rather than later. Amin.
Yours in Islam,
Sayyid M. Rizvi